A Russian Soyuz capsule has arrived at the International Space Station to deliver a fresh crew of two Russians and one American to work on the orbiting outpost.

The Soyuz arrived at the station two days after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Aboard the craft were Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka of Russia, and American Scott Kelly. They will be joining two Americans and one Russian who are already on board the space station.

The new crew will remain on the station for the next five and a half months, during which the U.S. space agency NASA is planning two space shuttle missions to complete assembly of the space station, which has been under construction since 1998.